'Watson' review: Sherlock and 'House' combo is unhinged TV

If you wanted a perfect encapsulation of the chaotic state of TV in 2025, look no further than CBS' Sherlock Holmes-inspired procedural, "Watson."

The new series, starring perennial network hunk Morris Chestnut, is utterly nonsensical and ridiculous, and also familiar enough to be derivative. It's one part "House": A medical mystery in which where Chestnut's Watson and a team of attractive young doctors diagnose perplexing illnesses in a Pittsburgh clinic due to their collective eccentric genius. And then you remember that Chestnut is playing Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes' sidekick, and your brain explodes a little bit.

The two parts of "Watson" (premiering Sunday, 10 EST/PST, ★½ out of four) don't fit together. The medical procedural is fine, bland and perfectly standard CBS. But then a patient-of-the-week drama gets crashed together with this half-hearted Sherlock mythology and the wheels fall right off.

It's ridiculous and kind of funny sometimes, especially in the last few minutes of the premiere, which go in a direction you completely expect but in a way you certainly don't see coming. It's not a happy marriage of two TV shows, but rather a nonconsensual cohabitation of two ideas with entirely different tones and themes smoothed over by Chestnut's soothing baritone. It shouldn't work! Maybe it does, once or twice? It's impossible to tell, even after watching six episodes because it's so all over the place: A bunch of ideas thrown at the wall by producer Craig Sweeney (who mined Holmes territory in Jonny Lee Miller's "Elementary") and picked up by CBS because why not? Ratings are down, the most random shows hit it big, so why not try Dr. Watson in Pittsburgh? They've already done "NCIS" in Australia.

How does Sherlock's famed partner go from London to the Steel City, you ask? Well, Watson and his bestie were living it up in London, solving cases and fighting evil villain Moriarty until they wound up on the cliff of Reichenbach Falls (fans of Holmes will recognize the familiar location). Three men went over the waterfall, but only Watson was rescued. Now, with a debilitating bump on the head that probably should have barred him from practicing medicine, Watson returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh. And hey, Sherlock left him a bunch of money and a plan to open a medical clinic specializing in diagnostic mysteries! So helpful.

Watson is assisted in his endeavor by fellow Sherlock associate Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster), a walking cockney stereotype, and a group of hand-picked medical geniuses. Oh, and he gets a case or two referred by his ex-wife, Dr. Mary Morstan (Rochelle Aytes), who's chief of the local prestigious hospital.

Yeah, that sounds a lot like Fox's 2004-12 drama "House," from the injured genius detective doctor to the ex as head of the hospital. (It also sounds like Fox's new drama "Doc," which also features a doctor with a traumatic brain injury and an ex at the top of the hospital org chart). "House" was a much better show than "Watson" is; the new show's medical whodunits are kind of dull and the team of helpers is distinctly unappealing. But the day (and the quality of the episode) is often saved by the sheer charm of Chestnut, who looks and acts nothing like Martin Freeman or Jude Law or any Watsons you've seen before. He's just kind of playing his swaggering, handsome self and sometimes referencing his pal Sherlock.

When the show pivots into dissecting bits and pieces of Sherlockian mythology it becomes so ridiculous as to be laughable. Without spoiling the premiere's big twist, I can only say that this style of adaptation of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle characters has been done with far more creative success with the likes of "Sherlock" and "Elementary." It turns out that Sherlock is a pretty pivotal part of any Sherlock Holmes story!

No one will turn on "Watson" without knowing exactly what they're getting into. I expected formulaic episodes, attractive doctors in scrubs and lab coats and plenty of ridiculous medical terms. I did not expect to be so bored. I did not expect to be so befuddled, either. "Watson" wins the award for the most tedious series of the year that I also can't stop thinking about due to its sheer oddity.

But perhaps it's just a concept that was never going to work as a TV show. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure that out.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Watson' review: Sherlock meets 'House' in absurd drama